The Bitterest Pill

Fifty-six

Molly had gone to Sara York’s house first to get what she knew would be an incredibly uncomfortable situation out of the way. The Yorks lived around the corner from the Cranes. Molly’s older girls had taken turns babysitting for Sara and her little brother and, as she had told Jesse, Sara played on the field hockey team with Molly’s two youngest girls.

“Molly!” Toni, Sara’s mom, said when she opened the door. When she saw Molly’s expression, the enthusiasm drained out of her. “Come in. We’ve been expecting you or Jesse to knock since the day Heather died.”

As Toni made Molly coffee, she explained that Frank had taken Frank Jr. to basketball practice.

Molly asked, “Sara?”

“At counseling.”

After the coffee was served, they sat across the kitchen table from each other. Molly had learned about the power of silence from Jesse and used it. The story Toni eventually told Molly was eerily similar to what Patti Mackey and Moss Carpenter had told Jesse. There had been an injury, doctor visits, continued pain, a new prescription, and addiction. The difference was that Toni, an occupational therapist, wasn’t going to play along or enable her daughter.

“I did my internship on a burn unit, Molly,” Toni said. “As an OT on that unit, I witnessed what pain was like. Burns do terrible damage to more than the skin. They ruin muscles, ligaments, tendons. To get people to be able to grasp and hold things in their hands again or to range their limbs, I had to put them through hell. So when I found pills in Sara’s room, I didn’t believe her lies and we got her help. Remember that soccer camp we told you about last summer? There was no soccer camp.”

Molly reached across the table and held Toni’s hand.

“Sara now goes to group meetings twice a week and for private counseling,” Toni said. “We get her tested every month. Sara says she did some things she’s pretty ashamed of to get those pills.” Silent tears poured out of her eyes as she spoke.

“Did any of those things involve Chris Grimm?”

Toni York’s eyes narrowed with anger. “That son of a bitch. He made Sara—”

Molly squeezed Toni’s hand, hard. “He’s dead.”

“Good.”

“He was tortured to death and shot, left in a shallow grave outside Helton.”

Toni paled but said, “You want me to feel sorry for him?”

“No. That’s not why I’m here. I came to talk to Sara to see if she knew of anyone other than Chris involved in selling drugs at school. We’re not looking to get the kids doing drugs in trouble. That never does any good. We want to get them help and we want the dealing to stop.”

“As far as I know, it was only Chris Grimm, but I’ll have Sara call you when she gets back. I promise.”

Molly got up from the table and hugged Toni.

Things went very differently at the North house. It was difficult enough for Molly to get in the house, let alone to talk directly to Petra. Things got loud and heated in spite of Molly remaining calm. There were threats of lawsuits, complaints about harassment... the usual stuff. Even in a place like Paradise, police frequently heard this kind of rhetoric. People hate the police until they need them.

“Tell Chief Stone we have had quite enough of this,” said Ambrose North, returned from Boston. “Annette told me of Jesse’s unwelcome and unappreciated visit.”

Molly caught sight of Petra listening at the top of the stairs, so she raised her voice loud enough to make certain Petra heard clearly what was going on.

“Mr. North, Jesse’s visit was to inform you that we had recovered your missing watch from the room of a suspected drug dealer. We were curious if you could tell us how your watch might’ve found its way there.”

“Preposterous! How would we know the answer to that?”

“Well, since the news will be out tomorrow, I can tell you that the alleged drug dealer was Petra’s classmate, Chris Grimm. His body was found this morning after—”

That got Ambrose North’s attention. “His body?”

“Yes, he disappeared on the day Heather Mackey was buried. This morning his body was found in a shallow grave outside of Helton. He had been tortured and shot to death.”

“None of this has anything to do with anyone in this house. I can assure you, Officer Crane.”

“We would still like to speak with your daughter. As I said before, this was only going to be a casual conversation. But it’s now an official request for her to appear at the station for questioning by Chief Stone in regards to any knowledge she may have concerning Heather Mackey’s death and Chris Grimm’s murder. We will be in touch to set a time that is convenient for you and to give you an opportunity to seek legal representation. Thank you.”

Molly didn’t wait to be shown out.

At Bob Mark’s house and at Lidell Thomas’s, it was the same story as at the Yorks’. They had been caught by their parents and sent to rehab. Bob Mark had had a slip, but was now back in rehab. Lidell was supposed to go to the University of Maryland, but his parents had kept him local. If he got through two years at the community college, he could pick the college of his choice at which to finish his degree. He was doing well, so far. He was on a program with group sessions and counseling much like Sara York’s. He was also tested to make sure he didn’t backslide.

When she got in her car to head over to the address she had for the Parkinsons, her cell phone rang.

“Mrs. Crane... Molly, it’s me, Sara.”

“Hi, Sara.”

“My mom says you came by and you guys talked. She says I’m not going to get in trouble. Is that right?”

“We only want you to be healthy and safe, Sara. Did she tell you about Chris?”

“She did. There’s some stuff I need to say to you about Chris, Mrs. — Molly.” Sara’s voice was strained and brittle. “I told my mom he forced me to do stuff, because I was ashamed. He never forced me to do anything I didn’t want to do. Believe me, I would have done anything, much worse things than I did. He was a little weird, but he wasn’t a bad person. I need you to know that.”

“Okay.”

“And I’m pretty sure he wasn’t doing this by himself. There was a teacher, I think, who he had a thing for.”

“A woman?”

“Yeah, but I don’t know who. He never said, but he got calls from her when I was with him, and the way he talked to her... you could just tell it was a woman who was older than him and he’d say stuff like ‘I’ll see you tomorrow at school.’ I guess he wasn’t thinking I could hear him or that I would get it.”

Molly tried to get more information about the teacher from Sara, but there was none to be had. She thanked the girl and hung up. She had to call Jesse.